Compassion – Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.)

Witness – a. One who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced. b. One who furnishes evidence.)

Our God is a God of compassion; He has a deep awareness of our suffering coupled with the desire to relieve it. He sent His Son in order to provide the relief for our suffering! As Christians, we who have experienced this relief are capable of giving a firsthand account of what we have seen, heard, and experienced through Christ. We have even established that Christ has commanded each of us to do precisely this. (See Commanded to Witness)

The Gospels clearly demonstrate Christ’s motivation as He taught, proclaimed the Gospel, and performed His work here on earth. The compassion that Christ demonstrated is precisely where we should begin as we teach, proclaim the Gospel, and perform our work here on earth. Perhaps you can simply say that we have been commanded to witness and we should simply go about the act of witnessing with no further thought to our motivation; however, I submit to you that while God can, and will, use any witness (Philippians 1:15-18) it is far better to serve our Lord as He directs than on our own terms.

We should provide others with the firsthand account of our salvation, with a deep awareness of their suffering, coupled with a wish to relieve it (MAT 22:39). As we can do nothing without love (I COR 13:1-3), love must be central to our witness. What type of witness is arrogant or rude, irritable or resentful? Our witness must be patient and kind, it must bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things! (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

This is indeed the witness that we desire to present, for this is a firsthand account of our salvation! Love and compassion are central to the Christian. We should have an awareness of the suffering and the lostness of people around us (remember your life without Christ). We must also exercise that deep desire to relieve this suffering in the lives of those around us by witnessing to the Gospel, believing that our witness will be used by the Holy Spirit and hoping that those who hear us will come to Christ. From this foundation, we will provide others with the firsthand account of our salvation, with a deep awareness of their suffering, coupled with a desire to point them to the God who can set them free.

If you need a tool to help share the Gospel, check out the The Roman Road: A Well-Engineered Path to Salvation.